Senior Engineer, System Automation (Device Interfaces)

Milpitas, California, United States

PsiQuantum’s mission is to build the first useful quantum computers—machines capable of delivering the breakthroughs the field has long promised. Since our founding in 2016, our singular focus has been to build and deploy million-qubit, fault-tolerant quantum systems. 

Quantum computers harness the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems that even the most advanced supercomputers or AI systems will never reach. Their impact will span energy, pharmaceuticals, finance, agriculture, transportation, materials, and other foundational industries. 

Our architecture and approach is based on silicon photonics. By leveraging the advanced semiconductor manufacturing industry—including partners like GlobalFoundries—we use the same high-volume processes that already produce billions of chips for telecom and consumer electronics. Photonics offers natural advantages for scale: photons don’t feel heat, are immune to electromagnetic interference, and integrate with existing cryogenic cooling and standard fiber-optic infrastructure. 

In 2024, PsiQuantum announced government-funded projects to support the build-out of our first utility-scale quantum computers in Brisbane, Australia, and Chicago, Illinois. These initiatives reflect a growing recognition that quantum computing will be strategically and economically defining—and that now is the time to scale. 

PsiQuantum also develops the algorithms and software needed to make these systems commercially valuable. Our application, software, and industry teams work directly with leading Fortune 500 companies—including Lockheed Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Mitsubishi Chemical—to prepare quantum solutions for real-world impact. 

Quantum computing is not an extension of classical computing. It represents a fundamental shift—and a path to mastering challenges that cannot be solved any other way. The potential is enormous, and we have a clear path to make it real. 

Come join us. 

Job Summary:

At PsiQuantum, we are developing prototype modules that will scale into a datacenter-sized, fault-tolerant quantum computer. These systems depend on photonic and electro-optic devices whose capabilities must be exposed reliably through firmware, Python APIs, hardware abstraction layers, and control software.

This role owns the system-level translation layer between device capabilities and the automation workflows that use them. The engineer will define device interface requirements, support modelling and control-stack integration, and partner with firmware engineers to migrate performance-sensitive functionality into firmware.

Role Overview

Define, validate, and integrate device interfaces for photonic/electro-optic systems, with a focus on enabling scalable calibration, automation, monitoring, modelling, and control workflows.

Why is this role unique?

This role shapes how in-house hardware capabilities are exposed and used across the system. It requires actively driving device interfaces from system needs through implementation, validation, and integration, all while working across hardware, firmware, software, system design, and test teams.

What success looks like?

Success in this role means:

  • Clear device interface requirements tied to real system use cases.
  • Python-accessible interfaces that integrate cleanly through the hardware abstraction layer and control stack.
  • Better system bring-up, debugging, and integration confidence.
  • Improved system automation by migrating more complex functionality into firmware.

Over time, this work establishes scalable device interface patterns for reliable automation and repeatable, performant calibration workflows.

Responsibilities:

Device Interface Requirements & System Use Case

  • Own and drive device interface requirements for photonic/electro-optic devices and related in-house hardware.
  • Consolidate inputs from device design, calibration, automation, software, firmware, and integration teams.
  • Translate system-level automation and calibration needs into firmware and control-software requirements.
  • Develop a strong understanding of calibration workflows to identify required device capabilities, edge cases, sequencing needs, and operational constraints.
  • Drive ambiguous interface needs to closure by resolving requirements, tradeoffs, and ownership across teams.

Control Stack Integration & Modelling Support

  • Partner with software engineers to integrate device interfaces through the control stack.
  • Prototype, debug, and contribute Python code for hardware control, automation, integration, and test workflows.
  • Define test requirements to ensure device interfaces are exercised correctly during integration and system testing.
  • Debug issues across firmware, software, and physical devices.
  • Support modelling efforts that depend on device behavior, capabilities, or control workflow assumptions.

Firmware Migration & Performance Optimization

  • Identify calibration, automation, or control functionality that should migrate from Python/control software into firmware or lower-level software.
  • Develop prototype implementations to guide migration and verification.
  • Partner with firmware engineers during requirement definition and implementation.

Experience/Qualifications:

Required Qualifications

  • B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Optical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
  • 5+ years of relevant experience in systems engineering, hardware automation, embedded systems, controls, test/integration, scientific software, or a related field.
  • Strong Python development skills for hardware control, automation, prototyping, debugging, integration, and test development.
  • Experience working hands on with complex hardware systems spanning firmware, software, and test/integration environments.
  • Experience translating system-level use cases into clear software, firmware, interface, or test requirements.
  • Proven ability to drive ambiguous technical requirements to closure across multiple engineering teams.
  • Strong communication and documentation skills.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience with photonic, electro-optic, optical, RF, or related hardware systems.
  • Experience defining or using device APIs, hardware abstraction layers, firmware-exposed interfaces, instrument drivers, or control-system APIs.
  • Experience with calibration workflows, automated calibration routines, or experimental control systems.
  • Familiarity with firmware constraints such as latency, determinism, bandwidth limits, sequencing, and real-time behavior.
  • Experience with system-level modelling, device behavior modelling, or hardware/control interface modelling.
  • Experience defining integration tests, hardware-in-the-loop tests, or validation plans for device interfaces.
  • Track record of driving alignment across hardware, firmware, software, and test teams.

PsiQuantum provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. PsiQuantum does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable laws.

Note: PsiQuantum will only reach out to you using an official PsiQuantum email address and will never ask you for bank account information as part of the interview process. Please report any suspicious activity to recruiting@psiquantum.com.

We are not accepting unsolicited resumes from employment agencies.

Base pay is one part of the total compensation package. Full-time roles are eligible for equity and benefits. Our compensation ranges reflect the cost of labor across multiple U.S. geographic markets, and we pay based on defined geographic zones. This position may be filled within one of the following U.S. geographic zones, each with its own salary range.

Actual compensation may vary outside of these ranges and is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, a candidate's qualifications, relevant education and training, competencies, experience, geographic location, business needs, and internal equity. Your recruiter can share more details about the salary range applicable to your location during the hiring process.  

  • Zone 1 - Bay Area and NYC 
  • Zone 2 - Examples include Los Angeles and Washington DC 
  • Zone 3 - Examples include Austin, Chicago, and Sacramento 
  • Zone 4 - Examples include Nashville and Phoenix/Tempe and many remote locations 

This position includes the following benefits: competitive health coverage for you and your dependents, 401(k) with company match, equity grants, access to financial wellness tools and planning resources, wellness benefits, family support programs, life and disability insurance, paid leave programs, company-designated paid holidays, discretionary time off (DTO), and an end-of-year company shutdown. Some of these benefits have eligibility requirements and may vary based on location, role, or employment status. Many of these benefits are subsidized or fully paid for by the company. 

The estimated annual base salary range for this role is: 

Zone 1

$182,200 - $214,100 USD

Zone 2

$164,000 - $192,700 USD

Zone 3

$145,800 - $171,300 USD

Zone 4

$127,600 - $149,900 USD

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